Advertising mechanism



P 1966 A. BRASWELL 3,273,269

ADVERTISING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 28, 1964 SAVE T THE TOE S BANK OF QNYTOWN SERVICE STATION 4% INTEREST TIRE REPAIRS F113. Fig.

' IN ENTOR W a- M United States Patent 3,273,269 ADVERTISING MECHANIEM Aubrey Braswell, Pensacola, Fla., assignor of twenty-five percent to Rex G. Williams, Lake Worth, Fla. Filed Feb. 28, 1964, Ser. No. 348,111 (llaims. (Cl. 40-34) The invention relates to advertising mechanisms and its object is, generally to provide a new mechanism that shall attract favorable attention to the various products, goods or services that are advertised thereon.

Other objects of this invention are to provide an attractive, compact, light weight, simply constructed, portable, and durable advertising mechanism that can be used inside or outside of buildings, by being placed either on the ground or on the floor, or attached to a wall or placed on top of a building or other support, to advertise various products, goods or services.

Still another object of this invention is in the extreme simplicity of the mounting and driving mechanism that provide the. pleasing to watch motion which attracts attention to the invention herein described and consequently to the various products, goods, or services that are advertised thereon.

With the above and other objects hereinafter appearing in view, this invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and more specifically in the novel effect this combination and arrangement of parts has, when properly assembled and operated as hereinafter described, when viewed by the human eye, it being understood that such changes in the physical construction of the herein described invention may be made as come within the scope of the claims that will allow the retention of the novel eifect, when viewed by the human eye, of an advertising mechanism constructed essentially as hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawing, hereby made a part hereof:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical section View taken along the line 1-1 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 2 is a front view as seen with the rotating part motionless.

FIGURE 3 is a side view as seen with the rotating part motionless.

FIGURE 4 is a top view as seen with the rotating part motionless and the rotating object, item 2, removed.

Referring to FIGURE 1 of the drawing, numeral 1 designates the base of the advertising mechanism, said base providing a support and housing for the other parts and at the same time is the support that the advertising signs are hung, pasted, painted, moulded into, or otherwise attached to. This base can be constructed of moulded fiberglass, plastic, and angle iron frame work covered with sheet metal, plywood, or any other of several types of material as desired.

The rotating object, numeral 2, can be any of several devices and constructed of various materials such as a moulded plastic or fiberglass ring that can be made to resemble an automobile tire, an automobile tire itself, a doughnut, a beach ring or any similar object or a generally flat circular disk of any desired thickness that can be constructed of various materials such as moulded plastic, plywood, etc., and made to resemble a hamburger, a fried egg on a plate, a stack of pancakes, a silver dollar or other coin, a cup and saucer, a bottle or any one of several other objects constructed of various materials, such as a hat, a bowl, a barrel, a bucket, a can, or any other object that has one generally circular dimension in a fiat plane.

Further, rotating object 2 can be made of a translucent material with a hollow inside in which a suitable electric 3,273,269 Patented Sept. 20, 1966 lamp can be placed to further enhance, especially at night, the pleasing motion obtained when the mechanism. is operating. When an electric lamp is used, as described above, a suitable slip ring and brush assembly is used to conduct current from the base 1 to circular table 3, and on to the lamp.

The rotating object 2 is attached, as shown in FIGURE 1, by a suitable device numeral 4 to circular table 3. Circular table 3 can be constructed in one of several different ways and with one of several different materials. One of the easiest ways is to make it of disk of plywood glued together to provide sufiicient thickness for the necessary strength and surface area for drive wheel 9 to work against.

Circular table 3 is attached by suitable means to shaft 5 which turns in bearings 6. The bearings 6 are suitably attached to a framework 7 which is in turn attached to the base I.

A small electric motor numeral 8 is held by mount numeral 11 so that it is free to pivot in the vertical plane and is spring loaded so that drive wheel 9, which is suitably attached to the shaft of motor 8, will always be in contact with the rim of circular table 3.

A counter weight 10 is attached by suitable means to the underside of circular table 3 so that the entire assembly of items 2, 3, and '4 will be perfectly balanced when the assembly is rotated in a horizontal plane about the center of circular table 3.

Circular table 3 is held by shaft 5, bearings 6, and framework 7 exactly in the center of a circular hole that is slightly larger in diameter than circular table 3 and that is cut or made into the top of base 1. Further, the top of table 3 is held exactly flush with the top of base 1.

It is apparent from the above description, to those skilled in the art, that when motor 8 is put into operation table 3 will be rotated by drive wheel 9 and that the object 2 will also rotate. When object 2 is mounted at the proper angle and rotated at the proper speed the impression given an observer is that of a circular object rolling around in a circle on one edge with no visible means of support and in apparent defiance of the law of gravity.

The resulting motion is an eye catcher, pleasing to the eye, and fascinating to watch. The attention of the observer is thereby attracted to the advertising mechanism, to the premises of the business upon which the advertising mechanism is located and further to the signs, placed on the base 1 of the advertising mechanism, that advertise the products, goods or services that the business has for sale.

If it is desired, base I can be mounted on a turntable and driven by the same or another electric motor either in the same or the opposite direction so as to provide four sides of advertising. Further, base 1 can be made round, triangular, or any other desired shape, or of any suitable dimensions.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the method of construction and the materials used for circular table 3 are subject to modification in various ways. It will be further apparent to those skilled in the art that the method of mounting circular take 3 and the method of imparting rotary motion to it from motor 8 are subject to modification in various ways.

It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the angle at which rotating object 2 is mounted relative to circular table 3 can be varied to achieve various effects. It will be further apparent to those skilled in the art that the speed at which rotating object 2 and circular table 3 rotate can be varied to achieve various effects by a suitable choice of the size of circular table 3, drive wheel 9 or the speed of rotation of electric motor 8, or a combination of the three.

In the present mode of operation the advertising mechanism is so constructed and the parts so arranged that the impression given an observer when the mechanism is in operation is that of a circular object rolling on one edge continuously around in a circle of approximately its own diameter, with no visible means of support and in apparent defiance of the law of gravity.

From the above description and the accompanying drawings it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that this invention provides an improved advertising mechanism featuring extremely simple means for transmitting rotary motion from an electric motor to a rotating object, a simple means of mounting the rotating object so that the desired effect is achieved and that the resulting motion of the rotating object is eye catching and very pleasant to watch.

What is claimed as my invention is:

1. An advertising mechanism comprising a base, said base including a substantially flat top, said top defining an enlarged central aperture spaced inwardly from the periphery thereof, a member positioned within and generally filling said aperture, said member including a fiat upper surface positioned coplanar with the flat top of the base, said member being rotatable within the aperture with the coplanar nature of the upper surface and fiat top being maintained during the rotation of the member, means within said base for selectively effecting a continuous rotation of said member, and a display device, said display device having at least one circular portion,

mounting mean rigidly afidxing a point on the circumference of the circular portion to the upper surface of the member adjacent the periphery thereof for rotation of the display device with the member, said point on the circumference of the circular portion constituting the only area of engagement of the display device, said display device projecting outwardly at an acute angle from the member at the point at which it is rigidly affixed to said member.

2. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein said display device is disk-like in shape, including a pair of opposed circular faces and an annular peripheral wall, the diameter of said circular faces being greater than the height of said peripheral wall.

3. The mechanism of claim 2 wherein said display device has the planes of the circular faces thereof inclined toward the axis of rotation of the member from the point of the display device which is fixed to said member.

4. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein said circular portion is inclined from the point fixed to the periphery of the rotatable member toward the aXIlS of rotation of said member.

5. The mechanism of claim 4 wherein said display device is in the nature of an automobile tire.

References Qited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,983,861 12/1934 Maas -34 2,075,245 3/1937 Van Schuck 4033 2,102,550 12/1937 Treesh 40-77 2,995,062 8/1961 Tyler 40-33 X 3,039,615 6/1962 Uihlein et al 40-33 X EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

JEROME SCHNALL, Examiner.

WILLIAM GRIEB, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN ADVERTISING MECHANISM COMPRISING A BASE, SAID BASE INCLUDING A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT TOP, SAID TOP DEFINING AN ENLARGED CENTRAL APERTURE SPACED INWARDLY FROM THE PERIPHERY THEREOF, A MEMBER POSITIONED WITHIN AND GENERALLY FILLING SAID APERTURE, SAID MEMBER INCLUDING A FLAT UPPER SURFACE POSITIONED COPLANAR WITH THE FLAT TOP OF THE BASE, SAID MEMBER BEING ROTATABLE WITHIN THE APERTURE WITH THE COPLANAR NATURE OF THE UPPER SURFACE AND FLAT TOP BEING MAINTAINED DURING THE ROTATION OF THE MEMBER, MEANS WITHIN SAID BASE FOR SELECTIVELY EFFECTING A CONTINUOUS ROTATION OF SAID MEMBER, AND A DISPLAY DEVICE, SAID DISPLAY DEVICE HAVING AT LEAST ONE CIRCULAR PORTION, MOUNTING MEANS RIGIDLY AFFIXING A POINT ON THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE CIRCULAR PORTION TO THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE MEMBER ADJACENT THE PERIPHERY THEREOF FOR ROTATION OF THE DISPLAY DEVICE WITH THE MEMBER, SAID POINT ON THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE CIRCULAR PORTION CONSTITUTING THE ONLY AREA OF ENGAGEMENT OF THE DISPLAY DEVICE, SAID DISPLAY DEVICE PROJECTING OUTWALDLY AT AN ACUTE ANGLE FROM THE MEMBER AT THE POINT AT WHICH IT IS RIGIDLY AFFIXED TO SAID MEMBER. 